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Ferry System Outage Costs Firm £20k
15 May
Summary
- A week-long tech outage impacted ferry bookings.
- A tour company lost over £20,000 in reservations.
- The ferry operator experienced a data center fire.
A Channel Islands holiday company has suffered significant financial losses, with over £20,000 in bookings lost due to a week-long tech outage. The reservation system for Guernsey's primary ferry operator, Brittany Ferries, became inaccessible last Thursday following a fire at a data centre in Amsterdam. The system was only restored seven days later.
Grant Miller, chairman and owner of Preston Holidays, highlighted the outage's impact on his ferry-based tour company, occurring during a peak booking season for June, July, August, and September. He stated his team could not check availability or secure bookings for customers. Miller has requested compensation for the financial damages and urged Brittany Ferries to implement more robust backup systems or manual booking methods, alongside better communication strategies.
Brittany Ferries has issued an apology for the disruption, acknowledging the frustration caused to customers. The company is actively discussing measures to prevent future incidents and has kept the States of Guernsey informed. Carus, the IT service provider for Brittany Ferries, confirmed that a thorough review would lead to recommendations and implementations aimed at avoiding recurrence.
